Condensate disposal means for air conditioning apparatus



Oct. 25, 1938.- A. WEILAND CONDENSATE DISPOSAL MEANS FOR AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Au 16, 1935 Patented Oct. 25, 1938 PATENT OFFICE CONDENSATE DISPOSAL MEANS FOR AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Alfred Weiland, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Baldwin-Southwark Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application August 16, 1935, Serial No. 36,500

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to air conditioning apparatus and more particularly to improved condensate disposal means.

It is well-knownthat in air conditioning ap- 5 paratus for homes, ofiices or'similar enclosures that on humid days a considerable quantity of water is condensed on the evaporator. Various means heretofore proposed for disposing of such water have been complicated or expensive, and it is one object of my invention to provide an improved water disposal means that will eificiently and efiectively facilitate disposal of the quantity of water condensed in an air conditioning unit and at the same time will be simple and inexpensive in construction, operation and maintenance and will have a high degree of cooperative action with an air cooled condenser and the flow of cooling air thereover.

In one specific aspect of the invention I accomplish the foregoing results by providing a rotating disc arranged so that one portion is rotated in accumulated condensate whereby the disc picks up the water on its surface and throws the same outwardly by centrifugal force either directly against the condenser or into the path of condenser cooling air, or both. More specifically, I have provided a flange on the periphery of a fan used to circulate air over the condenser, or on the periphery of the evaporator fan in the case of humidifying the room, the fan casing being so arranged with respect to the condenser and evaporator that condensate flows downwardly from the evaporator and into the condenser fan casing and thence is thrown into the path of air.

While I have shown my invention specifically in connection with a self-contained air conditioning unit of the type shown in application of H. L. Galson, Serial No. 648,772, filed December 24, 1932, yet the invention may be employed with various other forms of units one of which is shown in application of A. S. Locke, Serial No. 722,714, filed April 27, 1934.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the folin which:

Fig. l is a perspective of an air conditioning unit of the type adapted to embody my improved condensate disposal means;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

lowing description of the accompanying drawing Figs. 4 and -5 are fragmentary sectional views similar to Fig. 3 but showing modified arrangements of the fan disc or flanges.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the bottom portion of the blower taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

In the particular embodiments of the invention which are shown herein merely for the purpose of disclosing certain specific forms among possible others that the invention might take in practice, I have shown in Fig. 1' a self-contained air conditioning unit of the general type described in said Galson application, although the invention as will be seen hereinafter may be embodied in a unit such as is described in said Locke application, the disclosure of said Galson application constituting the specific disclosure of an air conditioning unit referred to herein. 'However, such a unit will be briefly described as comprising a compressor I, a vertical condenser passage 2 and a vertical evaporator passage 3. A blower 4 draws air inwardly through one portion of the outside air duct 5 and thence preferably down over the compressor I and into the blower 4 and thence upwardly through condenser passage 2 and over the condenser therein to the outside atmosphere through another portion of duct 5. This duct projects 'rearwardly from the upper portion of the unit through a suitable window 6 or other opening in the wall adjacent to which the unit is placed. Room air is circulated by a blower and thence upwardly through passage 3 and over the evaporator therein to be discharged through a suitable opening in the top 8 of the air conditioning unit. The blowers '4 and I may be driven by any suitable means specifically shown as a motor 9 commonly driving'said blowers.

Condensate from the evaporator or passage 3 may be suitably collected in troughs III disposed beneath the evaporator and then drained through a pipe ll into the casing ii of blower 4. If desired, the condensate may be allowed to drip down through the evaporator passage 3 and thence into the casing of blower 1 from which it would flow through a suitable small opening 13 into the base pan l4 in which the blower casings are disposed. The water in the base pan l4 may then be drawn through a suitable opening I6 near pressure in fan casing 4 is greater than the atmospheric pressure in base pan l4, suitable means may be employed to insure flow of water into fan casing l2. One such means is to have the opening l6 located very closely adjacent to a peripheral disc I1, Fig. 3, formed as a radial and axial continuation of the fan end plate l8 to the bottom of blower casing 4. Inasmuch as the rotate therewith whereby the disc creates a dragging or ejector action adjacent the opening. An alternative arrangement is to have opening l6 provided as shown in Fig. 5 with a baflle 20. This baflle is directed in the directionof air whirl within fan casing l2 so as to create the same action as a Pitot tube-pointing in a downstream direction. Asa result, the pressure immediately adjacent the opening 2| formed by bafile 20 will be less than in fan casing l2, thus inducing or tending to induce flow of water from base l4 into blower casing l2. be supplemented if desired by having the blower flange ll disposed closely adjacent to said opening 2| whereby the same action is obtained as above described in connection with Fig. 5.

The rotors 22 for blowers 4 and I may be of any desired form but preferably are of the Sirocco type mounted upon a shaft 23 which is preferably directly connected to the armature of motor 9. The peripheral flange I! may have a plain surface as shown in Fig. 3 or it may have a saw tooth surface as indicated at 24, Fig. 5, or a waved surface as indicated at 25, Fig. 4. The fan casing 12 may be suitably formed with recesses 26 receiving the peripheral flanges to pick up water accumulating therein. If desired, the recesses may be dispensed with in which case the water would accumulate across the bottom of the fan casing as generally indicated at 21. Also to augment flow of water from base l4 into opening 16, the outlet l3 from blower casing I may be provided with a pipe 30 which as shown in Fig. 4 would terminate adjacent a slightly flared or bell mouth 3| formed adjacent opening l6. Air flow from evaporator blower I would create a definite aspirator action at opening l6 so that water which may be present in base l4 and surrounding mouth 3| will be forced through opening l6 and into the fan casing 4. This arrangement will also carry condensate from the evaporator ian casing 1 directly to opening l6 but in case water should accumulate in base M, then air which flows through pipe 30 would draw water from the base into opening l6.

From the foregoing disclosure it is seen that as condensate collects in the blower casing 4, either by dripping therein through collecting throughs l0 and pipe II, or by any suitable aspirator or suction action through an inlet IS, the peripheral flanges ll of blower 4 will pick up water and throw it off tangentially as diagrammatically indicated at 28. The condenser 29 disposed in passage 2 is preferably located close This Pitot tube action may' 24 will be preferably arranged so that the faceof the teeth entersthe water in the blower casing, thereby functioning as a paddle wheel type of pump. This mode of operation may be magnifie'd depending upon the degree of concavity or width of the face of the teeth. Such an arrangement would augment still further the tendency to draw water in through opening 16 against the higher pressure-in the blower casing. Thus it is seen that I have provided an extremely simple means for facilitating disposal of condensate.

It will of course-be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination in an airconditioning unit comprising, means for accumulating condensate under a low pressure, a blower casing and rotor for circulating air under high pressure, meahs for transferring the condensate under low pressure from said accumulating means to said blower casing which is under a high pressure, and a peripheral blower flange for throwing the condensate from said blower casing into the path of air circulated by said blower.

2; The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that a plurality of said peripheral flanges are provided on said blower action.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that the means for transferring the condensate includes an opening in the blower casing, and means, cooperating with said opening, rendered operative in response to operation of said blower.

' ALFRED WEILAND. 

